The Train to Balamb: Alternate Ending - Execution
by Fierolobo
Summary: This is an alternative ending for Selphie Leonhart's "Train to Balamb"; without her marvellous story I couldn't be writing this. So, read it first or assume the consequences!


Written by Tanthalas Fierolobo

The Train To Balamb: Alternate Ending - EXECUTION

Hey don't blame me, I DID ask permission!

Written by Tanthalas Fierolobo.  
  
All characters are property of Squaresoft©.   
  
This is AN alternative ending for Selphie Leonhart's "Train to Balamb"; without her marvellous story I couldn't be writing this. So, read it first or assume the consequences!  
  
  
- Use Revive command ability, I don't have it. You must do something...- Squall tried to concentrate. It was difficult to use a command without the rush of adrenaline of battle, but he managed it. A soft pink/red light surrounded Selphie, but nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. Squall fell to his knees, desperate, his hands softly caressing her deadly pale, cold skin.  
- Live. Please... live. Selphie... open your eyes... please... please...- He couldn't accept what was happening. It couldn't happen. It simply couldn't. - Selphie... Selphie! Don't leave me! ...Don't... leave... me. - But she was gone. She had left him. He knew it. His head bowed forward, kissing the blue lips of the girl he loved, a horrible feeling of culpability and sadness seizing him.  
Squall's tears fell over the once cheerful, happy-go-lucky girl, mixing with her blood.  
  
***  
  
Rinoa Heartilly was crying outside the room, and hoping that Selphie would be okay. The words Squall had said her were like knives buried on her heart, and she cried even more when she remembered them again. The door suddenly slid open, and Quistis ran out of the room, her eyes flooding with tears. With a withering glare to Rinoa, she ran out of the carriage and went to the next one. Rinoa expected the worst. Then, Squall went out. She was astonished to see he had been crying. He never cried. Now Rinoa knew the worst had happened. "And the worst will happen to me", she thought in with a horrible, devastating fear. He approached her, ice in his eyes, ice in his voice.  
- Selphie is dead. And so you will be. You will be carried to Balamb garden as a prisoner, and there you will be judged. The sentence will be death. I'm certain of it. - With this, he went to the next carriage. Rinoa was unable to speak.  
  
***  
  
The train arrived at Balamb. The SeeDs went out of it; first Squall, carrying Selphie's body wrapped in a white sheet, a deathly silence surrounding him. Silently, Zell and Quistis were escorting Rinoa. She was wearing an Odine bracelet, her hands tied, her eyes in tears. A sobbing Irvine was bringing up the rear. Soon the crowd surrounded them, the rumours spreading fast. They were going through the roads of the city, when people started to shout to Rinoa. At that moment the entire village knew what she had done.  
- Get out of our town, witch!  
- We don't want people like you!  
- She's evil! She must die!  
This was only the beginning. The mob continued insulting Rinoa while they threw all sort of things to her, until they reached the end of the village. Not even the SeeDs did something to protect her. "She deserves it. She deserves all of this and much more." Squall thought ignoring the pleading glance the Sorceress gave him. "She's a witch and she must die." He was blinded by hatred, remembering the happy, lovely girl he had just discovered he loved, the girl whose body was carrying. He was devastated. Everybody he had loved was now dead. He promised to himself he wouldn't give his love to someone again. Never. "I finally realise. It's my destiny to be alone."  
They went all the way to Balamb Garden walking, in a long, sad procession in honour to Selphie's spirit. Nobody complained about it, and followed Squall in a silence which was only broken by the sound of the waves striking furiously at the coast and Rinoa's unconsolable crying.  
They finally arrived at garden, a welcome commitee waiting for them, waiting for the heroic SeeDs that saved the world to give a speech about unity, about love between nations. Instead of it, they received a dead SeeD and a Sorceress guilty of assassination. There was no speech to be made.  
  
***  
  
The judgement had been fast and concise. They had declared her guilty of assassination, and she would be executed by Squall the next day, under the first light of dawn. Rinoa was now in a detention room of the garden, and had stopped crying. She realised how useless it was. She could think clearly now, and the first thing she thought was she didn't want to think. It was too much painful, know she had killed someone she once called a friend. "I can escape from here," she thought then. "I can use all my powers to destroy this ridiculous bracelet, open a hole with my magic in the ceiling and fly away from here, I know I can. My power is beyond their understanding." And that was true… she had the power of three sorceresses (Edea, Adel and Ultimecia) running through her veins. She could destroy anything with only a thought, that was the magnitude of her powers. "But I won't. I won't escape, I couldn't live with it. There is no point in living that way, hated by everyone, with no place to call home. I prefer death than that. I'll serve my sentence."   
She fell asleep wondering if she would be able to apologize to Selphie next day.  
  
Squall was unable to sleep. Now he could think clearly, and not affected by hatred, he was feeling despicable for what he had done; even saying himself he had done the correct thing. "I'm not punishing a cruel witch who subjugates the world," he thought. "I'm killing an innocent pure teenager who committed an error. But… she killed her… she murdered her. I… I can't forgive… I can't. There's no more love inside me for forgiving. I'll accept the law. She'll be punished for what she's done." Even then, Squall couldn't find sleep. He spent all night thinking about Selphie.  
  
***  
  
Footsteps awakened Rinoa. She looked around frightened, not knowing where she was. Soon, painfully, she remembered why she was there; today she was going to die. Feeling strangely calm, she stood up, and the cell door suddenly opened. A SeeD she had never seen before threw her what looked like some black rags.  
- Put this on. And take your shoes off. - With that, the unknown man left, shutting the door behind him. She took what he had thrown from the floor and examined it. They were rags. Dirty, dark, tattered clothes; something a beggar would wear. She did what she had been told, feeling tears in her eyes again. "What a humiliating death. I'm not a beggar, for I've never asked for forgiveness to them. I'm going to die like a witch, not like a Sorceress. But… I won't cry. Because I deserve it. I really deserve it for… killing her. I killed Selphie. Selphie… If I could give my life for yours… I would do anything to bring you back… but… even with all my power, I can't do it… Selphie…"  
… "Will you forgive me when we meet again?"  
  
***  
  
Squall was standing beside the scaffold, waiting for the death culprit to approach. The execution would take place outside garden, at the boundary of a forest nearby. Only people close to Selphie could assist; it was an execution, not a show. Apart from Squall (the executioner), five people were gathered there. Zell and Irvine, standing very still, a solemn expression on their faces; Quistis, crying softly, a glance of pure hatred in her sapphire eyes as Rinoa approached; Cid Kramer, former director of garden; and Lillian, a friend of Selphie who had just arrived from Trabia. Squall watched Rinoa as she came closer to him. She was dressed like a beggar, her delicate bare feet hurt by the little stones of the path, a blank look in her eyes. She was trying to hide her fear, and even managed to look calm as she walked to her death, but he knew she was in complete panic. "What are we doing?" was Squall's thought as, without looking at him, she slowly bent forward, putting her head over the cold, metallic scaffold.  
  
Rinoa was very afraid. She was walking to her death; a horrible, humiliating death from Squall's hands. This was the worst thing of all for her, being executed by the one she loved. She managed to continue walking, her mouth dry, her knees trembling, as the assistants coldly stared at her. "They were my friends, and now they hate me even more than they hated Ultimecia. I am Ultimecia for them: an evil Sorceress that must be killed. But… They have the right to hate me. I killed Selphie, and that's not going to change." Finally she stood in front of Squall, and without looking at him she slowly bent forward, putting her head over the cold, metallic scaffold.  
  
Squall raised his weapon over his head, and Rinoa's composure finally broke. Her eyes burst into tears, wetting the surface of the scaffold, as she gave a pleading, desperate glance to Squall. "Don't kill me… please…" her eyes said. "What am I doing?" He thought again, looking at her wet brown eyes, at her deadly pale cheeks. "A pure, happy girl has died… and I'm going to kill another one to repair it? This is wrong… she only committed an error… this is not going to bring Selphie back." Squall almost laid down his gunblade. "To the hell with garden's law. I'm the commander, garden's law is what I say." But then, a horrible, apocalyptic vision appeared in front of his eyes. He had a vision of himself; he was standing at the top of a mountain, a monstrous sight below him. His other self was looking down, a cruel, scornful smile on his lips. The cities were in flames, burnt bodies covering the streets; the once crystalline waters of a river were now a bubbling torrent of lava; burning columns of sulphur rose from the ground, making the air unbreathable; blue had disappeared from sky, the clouds had gone, and it was now of a bloody red colour, like a never ending sunset. Then, Squall saw a dark haired woman dressed in black approaching the evil image of him. Her eyes were of glittering amber, and dark blue veins covered her cheeks; she also had a pair of wings, covered with brilliant dark feathers. She bore a resemblance to someone he knew, but he was unable to remember with whom. Then, she spoke. "Enjoying the beautiful sight?" Finally he realised, in painful horror. It was Rinoa's unmistakable voice. But, what really frightened Squall, the thing that made him shudder, was his other self's answer: "Yes, my love." Suddenly, all went black.  
Two big, watery, bright green eyes replaced the vision. They were Selphie's, he had no doubt. All was darkness around him; he couldn't see other thing than her eyes. Then, the rest of her body appeared, wearing her usual yellow dress. "Was that… the future?" he asked. Her eyes slowly blinked, as Selphie's voice whispered inside Squall's head. "Yes, if you do not kill her now.", "But… how? What happened?" He was very confused. "You didn't kill her, but Rinoa died that day. Her feelings, her heart died. She claimed revenge upon human race for the humiliation she had suffered. She destroyed all the little villages, all the towns, and all the cities one by one. And she chose you for being her knight." It was like she was reading a history book from the future. "But I would never agree!" A sad smile appeared in her mouth as she continued. "She controlled you, Squall. Even then, she still loved you, and didn't want you to die. She lied to herself believing that you loved her, making you do the things and say the words she wanted. She changed your mind, turning you into a cruel, merciless person, a person who would love her, a Destroyer of Nations. That's why I'm here. I had to advise you. You can stop her now.", "But she'll use her powers.", "No, she won't…" Selphie started to disappear. "Trust me, Squall… trust… me."  
He returned to present, to the forest, to the execution. It seemed like time had stopped while his vision took place; he had his weapon raised, ready to deal the final blow, Rinoa's head over the scaffold. Then, he noticed two big, tear-filled, bright green eyes looking at him: Lillian's. He glanced at her, a questioning glance. She nodded.  
- I trust you. - He whispered. The first light of dawn reflected on the metallic surface of his gunblade as he brought it down.  
  
Squall raised his weapon over his head, and her composure finally broke. "I don't want to die!" she screamed in her mind, as her eyes burst into tears, desperately giving Squall a pleading glance. Their eyes encountered, and he seemed to doubt for a moment. But after a while, with new resolution in his face, he whispered something as he brought his gunblade down. All the things she had thought vanished. She wanted to live, but now she also wanted revenge. She tried to use her powers to escape, to kill all those people who hated her, to make them pay. But something stopped her, and it was not the bracelet. "NO!!" She thought. Then she didn't think any more. The last thing she saw was a pair of big, tear-filled, bright green eyes. The last words she heard were "I forgive you."  
  
Before the astonished look of the assistants, Lillian vanished.


End file.
